STAFF at a Highworth firm clashed with their bosses over a lack of clarity about what would happen to them once Honda leaves Swindon.

Worried workers at TS Tech’s Blackworth Industrial Estate facility feared for their futures and downed tools in protest against their managers.

TS Tech is one of the town’s largest employers and stands to be hit hard by the 2021 closure of the South Marston plant because all the seats it makes in Wiltshire are sold to the Japanese car manufacturer.

One employee who wished to remain anonymous said: “Staff at the company are very angry. We work very hard and the company just does not care about us. We are worried about our jobs.

“I’ve lost sleep over this, my hands are shaking and I’ve seen people crying at work. It’s a horrible situation.

“People are very scared and stressed but whenever we ask the management what’s going to happen they say they don’t know.

“We have so many questions and no answers, no reassurance about the future.”

The firm employs more 410 people and made £9m profit last year. Honda owns 20 per cent of its parent company.

Unite wrote to TS Tech asking for it to confirm its position on seeking alternative work and possible redundancy pay.

Unite representative John McGookin said: “Workers are not happy with the lack of answers because colleagues in Honda and Honda Logistics had a full explanation just a few weeks after the announcement.

“After the workers downed tools, the company confirmed that any redundancy pay would be better than statutory.”

Highworth Town Council quizzed Honda support committee co-ordinator Julia Stuckey about the work the committee is carrying out.

Coun Alan Bishop said: “For somebody who has placed all their eggs in one basket with Honda, like TS Tech, how are you going to help them?”

Ms Stuckey replied: “In terms of what we do for the supply chain, we calculate a percentage for each business on how dependent they really are on one supplier, i.e. Honda.

“We then prioritise those with the highest dependencies. We may bring the supply chain together at a ‘meet the buyer’ event to help them find new contracts.”

Operations division manager of TS Tech Andy Williams said: “We have seen significant challenges in the automotive industry globally, as has our main customer, Honda.

"We are working hard to find new customers, and although initial proposals have been well received we have to prepare for every eventuality.

"We are a close knit business so it is incredibly difficult to think about this, but we have to consult on the future of our plant at Highworth and consider redundancies amongst our family of 410 associates.

“No final decision has been made and we are committed to consulting both individually and collectively with all our associates and Unite the Union on this proposal to explore our options and to support them in every way we can through this uncertain time,

"This includes a commitment to redundancy payments significantly in excess of statutory entitlement.

“We will continue to provide high-quality products to our customers and maintain the standards for which we are known during this period, and want to put on record our thanks to our associates for their ongoing commitment.”